Index



INDEX.

No, 472,629. Patented Apr. 12, 1892;

H. A. STEPHENSON.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INDEX.

(N0 Medel.)

Patented Apr. 12, 1892.

INVENTOR.

WITN ESSES.

I The NORRIS PEYRS co., Pum'wumo wAsumm-ou, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

HARVEY A. STEPHENSON, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,629, dated April 12, 1892.

Application filed August 22. 1889 Serial No.321,594. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARVEY A. STEPHEN- SON, of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Indexes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view of an open self-indexing ledger embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a dictionary provided with my improvement. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view illustrating one form of a part of my invention.

The object of my invention is to provide an index designed especially for use in ledgers,

books of account, dictionaries, directories,

only by a species of guess-work it is seldom that they can be arranged in the proper alphabetical order. The latter fact is a considerable annoyance to book-keepers, because in arranging their accounts for collection at the end of the month, quarter, or year the accounts should be placed in proper order, and where such arrangement is not preserved in the ledger itself a double Work is required for the proper arrangement of the collection-list or trial balance.

In indexingaledger in accordance with my invention I first divide the pages of the book into divisions corresponding to combinations of two or more letters of the alphabet, which usually occur as initial letters in the surnames of persons. To ascertain the proper divisions, I take a directory or other book containing a general list of names and ascertain the proportion which each combination of letters bears as initial letters of surnames to the whole number of names in the book. I then divide the pages of the ledger, the number of pages in each division bearing the same pro-- portion to the whole number of pages in the ledger as the corresponding initial letters bear to the whole number of surnames in the directory, and at the top of each page I mark the combination of letters appertaining thereto, and I also mark on the page its proper number either above or below the letters. This is clearly shown in Fig.1 of the accompanying drawings, which represents in front view a ledger provided with my improved index. Thus the drawing shows pages 2, 43, 118, 130,205, and 210, marked with the letters Ac, Br., Fa, Fr, Jon, and Ka., respectively.

In using the ledger the several accounts are written on the pages bearing the proper combination of initial letters, and there may be a series of combinations on the same page, and as their proper places are all predetermined, and as by reference to the index letters at the tops of the pages every name in the ledger can easily be found, no separate indexing is required. The savingin time and labor occasioned by this will be appreciated by the experienced book-keeper, as will also the additional advantage resulting from the fact that the accounts are all necessarily placed in the ledger in the proper order, not only the proper order of the first initial letter, but of the first two or three initial letters as well.

To increase the facility of finding the places in the ledger, I prefer, also, to employ a marginal index, (shown in the drawings,) which comprises in tabulated form the letter divisions of the book and the numbers of the pages on which they may be found or begin. To accommodate this index, I make the cover of the book sufficiently wide to project beyond the limits of the pages, and on this pro-- j ecting margin of the cover I affix the index. If desired, this index may extend along the margins at the sides of the books and at the bottom as Well if the margins at the sides be not sufficiently large for the purpose.

It is obvious that this marginal cover index may be applied to use in connection with dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, Bibles, and to any other books which are divided into parts, either alphabetically or according to subject-matter, the only requisite being that the margin of the cover shall project sufliciently beyond the leaves of thebook to afford a place for the index. By having the index on the inside of the cover at the margin thereof it is always visible to the person using the book and can be referred to by him without difficulty. This fact constitutes one of the prime features of advantage of the index and is especially desirable when the book to which it is applied is heavy or inconvenient to handle. Another advantage is that the index is applicable to any book without in any way cutting or mutilating the pages.

In Fig. 2 I show the index applied to the margin of the cover of a dictionary, which for this purpose is made to project, as explained above. The lines of combinations of letters in the vertical column indicate the alphabetical divisions of the book and the adjacent numbers refer to the proper pages. Thus to find the word Account the index shows that words beginning with Ac begin on page 9, and by reference to that page or one of the near-by following pages the word in question will be found.

For the purpose of enabling the desired page of the books (either account-books or books of reference) to be found without difficulty I may divide the book into divisions of a certain number of pages each-say into divisions of one hundred pages-and indicate these divisions by characters or marks arranged in horizontal series on the edges of the pages on the outside of the book and at the top edge of the front thereof. These divisions may conveniently be distinguished by separate stripes orsquares, with the numbers of the sections preferably marked thereon. These stripes or squares are subdivided into smaller divisionssay of twenty-five or fifty pages eaehsuch subdivisions being indicated by marks of different colors or shapes. Thus if the divisions be indicated by marks in the form of squares they may each be subdivided into four parallel stripes of different colors, each stripe indicating a division of twentyfive pages, and as each square is marked by colored stripes arranged in the same order a person using the book soon becomes accustomed to associate a color with the proper subdivision and to recognize one color as indicat ing the first twenty-five of a division of one hundred pages and other colors as indicating the second, third, or fourth subdivision of twenty-five pages, respectively. This system makes any page in the book very easy to find. It is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 at the upper part of the book. The square figures without the subdivisions are shown in Fig.

I claim- 1. An improvement in ledgers, consisting in a pro-indexed ledger whose pages are divided proportionally into alphabetically-arranged divisions and are provided at or near the upper and outer corners of the pages with alphabeticallyarranged combinations of two or more initial letters marked on the pages of the proper divisions and figures adjacent thereto indicating the numbers of the pages, said ledger having an exteriorindex co-operating with the leaf-index, substantially as described.

2. In a book having a marginally-projecting cover, an index applied directly to the marginal projection of the cover, said index having on the cover characters or alphabetically-arranged letters referring to the divisions of the book and having adjacent to said letters or characters numbers indicating the proper pages of the book, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of August, A. l). 1889.

HARVEY A. STEPHENSON.

Witnesses:

THOMAS W. BAKEWELL, C. NEWELL. 

